LAS VEGAS - February 4, 2009 - With major action anticipated on an economic stimulus package in Washington, UNLV on Jan. 27 hosted a special summit to consider an agenda of prioritized federal requests for Nevada in six critical areas: transportation, water, education, immigration, health care and energy.

Titled "A Bridge to Somewhere: Nevada's Summit on Federal Priorities," the event focused on the six areas spotlighted in the recent Brookings Institution policy report, "Mountain Megas: America's Newest Metropolitan Places and a Federal Partnership to Help Them Prosper."

Approximately 80 business, government and community leaders attended the event, which was held in partnership with the Nevada System of Higher Education and The Brookings Institution.

The Brookings Institution report asserts that the Southern Intermountain West -- with its rapid population growth, increasing population diversity, and new super-regional metros like Southern Nevada -- represents the "new American heartland." At the same time, these mountain megas are at a crossroads, facing serious infrastructure, economic, human capital, and sustainability challenges that threaten their future prosperity.

UNLV has sought to bring together Nevadans to help identify public priorities and to help inform federal leaders about what they can do to serve as better partners to the Intermountain West so that this important region continues to prosper.

Nevada's meeting will complement similar meetings in the other intermountain states (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah). These meetings will culminate in a five-state meeting in Las Vegas later this spring, hosted by The Brookings Institution, to negotiate a common set of ranked requests to take forward to the congressional delegations in these states.